I’m writing this from the comforts of the passenger seat in
our FJ. Jordan’s merrily driving along,
Layla’s snoozing in the back, the gas tank just got filled for the 200th
time, and my “Alaskan Springtime” air freshener is just about used up. To be honest, not a whole lot could help the
“month long we’ve been living in our car” smell go away except a thorough scrub
down. I can’t wait!
This vehicle has taken us all across the North American
continent this summer. From Anchorage,
AK, we have traveled 7, 860 miles through wilderness, cities, national parks, cornfields,
mountain roads ((shudder)), and interstate after interstate. My seat will
forever have a permanent imprint of my butt.
You’re welcome for that image.
We are just a couple hundred miles out from our final
destination: Hampton, VA. I just can’t
believe we did it. We talked about this
trip for months. I spent hours planning this trip. We set up our camper and took it down over 20
times on this trip. We visited many
friends, and even spent a weekend with Jordan’s brother. I feel like we put the next 20 years worth of
vacations into an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid (thanks USAF) month of a
lifetime.
It’s really hard to put into words the gratitude we both
feel at this moment. For the 24 hour prayer team that has covered us in prayer
every step of the way, we can’t thank you enough! There were several conversations had with people, missed accidents, and what
can only be described as a perfect trip all covered in prayer, and we no doubt
felt the Holy Spirit with us this entire time.
I’ll sum up the past couple of days for you before I
conclude this chapter of my blog.
We spent two days in Memphis, TN catching up with Jordan’s
friends as mentioned in my last post.
This was such a sweet time, seeing people Jordan hadn’t seen in eight
years and feeling like no time had passed at all. We are so excited for chances to see them in
the future and promised another eight years wouldn’t go by before that happened
again!
We drove to Boone, NC in the Blue Ridge Mountains on Friday
to meet up with Jordan’s brother, Christopher.
He just moved to Hot Springs, NC, only a couple hours away. We camped in Boone, enjoying catching up with
each other. One of the things Jordan and
I have enjoyed in our down time on this trip is playing Monopoly on our
iPad. Christopher agreed to play with us
(he had no idea what he was getting in to).
I am proud and not humble at all to say I kicked both of their butts the
first night! Woot woot! But Christopher got us back last night. Poor Jordan is left hanging for a chance to
beat us, so I’m sure that will happen the next time the three of us are
together.
Saturday morning we went to a really beautiful place off the
Blue Ridge Mountains and hiked down to Bass Lake with Layla. There were lots of people horse-back riding
on the trail, so we were a little nervous as to how Layla would handle being so
close to these friendly beasts. She’s
become accustomed to barking at anything breathing outside of our FJ when we’re
on the road, including the wild horses we saw in Canada. Turns out she wasn’t even phased by them, but
did have to stop and sniff every “present” they left for her on the trail. Sigh.
We got back to our camper just in time to set up the canopy
over our table as a storm rolled in pretty quickly. Oh yes, I remember these. East coast storms
come in like a vengeance, pour rain, and leave before you even have a chance to
say, “hello.” We spent the afternoon
walking around downtown Boone. It
reminded me very much of Keene, NH as it’s an old college-town in the
mountains. Probably the best part of the
day was when we, yup you guessed it, ATE.
Christopher suggested we eat at this pizza place called the Mellow Mushroom. Thankfully it had vegan pizza options for
Chris, so we all indulged in hands-down the best
pizza on earth. Move over Moose’s Tooth. My “Holy Shiitake” mushroom pizza was
amazing. And that’s saying something as
I’m married to Mr. Pizzahead himself who will drive across North America in
search for the best pizza in the country.
I’m happy to say we found it!
This morning we packed up the camper and spent some time
showing Chris the houses we’re looking at in Virginia. He’s going to come up when we move in to help
us unpack our truck. So fun to finally
be around family that’s within driving distance and can do that!
And so, as we finish this journey, there are just a few
words I’d like to leave you with.
1.
If you’re married to someone in the military who
has to shave every day for work, be prepared for what may grow on his face over
the span of five weeks. Don’t get me
wrong, the beard has been fun. But it’s
time to go, my friend. Snip snip.
2.
Wet Ones hand wipes and plastic grocery bags
used for garbage and picking up dog poo become like gold on road trips. Start stocking up now.
3.
If you ever have the opportunity to take a trip
like this, do it. Don’t make excuses and
say you’ll do it when you retire, or when you have enough money, or when you
have enough vacation time. I realize
those things all contribute to taking such a large trip like we’ve taken. But I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about taking a trip with your
spouse, your family, your closest friends, and exploring this beautiful country
we live in together. You don’t have to
go 8,000 miles to see gorgeous places and you don’t have to have “all your
ducks in order” to spend time with your loved ones. Out of all the things we’ve
seen and done on this trip, I wouldn’t trade five weeks with my husband for
anything. He’s been the best thing about
this trip. That’s why I encourage you
all to get out there and take a road trip together!
I’ll be posting more on this blog as we find a house, buy a
house, move into that house, and live life in that house. If you’d like to keep reading along, I
encourage you to subscribe to the blog, or just email me back and let me know
to keep you on my list for updates! If I
don’t hear back from you, I’ll just assume you don’t want my emails clogging up
your inbox any moreJ
No hurt feelings, I promise!
Jordan, Pastor Jeff, and Amy Dale in the Baptist Collegiate Ministries building where they all hung out in '05. |
I have a picture of us eating here when I came to visit in '05. |
Jordan with Amy and Andrew Dale on Beale St. |
We came back to our hotel room to find Layla like this. |
The brothers! |
Bass Lake, NC |
Pops got each of them one of these from the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC. |
Christopher sleeping in his hammock on our site. |
Camping in Boone! |
Love this guy with all my heart |
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